DC adventure guide

Story of M&B

Boris and Maranda were lucky to meet twice, both times, in a tango embrace.

On a balmy July evening, Maranda had just concluded a satisfying dance with a talented partner at an outdoor tango event at Freedom Plaza, a large granite platform in the heart of the District of Columbia. A calm, light-hearted guy approached them, clapped her partner on the back like an old friend and said, "Hey! I'm Boris!" Maranda was immediately taken with his confidence, his crooked, goofy smile, and his unlikely name - Boris. Visions of a cartoon oafish figure from the farthest reaches of the Arctic yelling "ME BORIS!" played through her head while the actual Boris took her into a tango embrace. Contrary to her mental image, Boris was gentle and led her around the platform with a comfort and ease uncommon to many dancers. Like all good dances though, this one ended and they thanked each other, parting ways for an unknowable time.

Maranda eagerly anticipated seeing Boris again, but their paths did not cross for a while. By then, Maranda vaguely remembered a guy with whom she'd enjoyed such a delicious dance. After that July evening, she found herself longing for his comfortable embrace and, unbeknownst to her, Boris found himself in an emergency room after a harrowing bicycle accident taking selfies of his bandages. She searched for him at tango events and though she could not remember his name, she knew she would remember his embrace.

On a chilly October evening, at a tango event aptly titled Tango Sutra, Boris again stepped toward Maranda's partner and like deja vu, clapped him on the back and said, "Hi, I'm Boris!" and she knew then - this was the dance she had been awaiting.

After another smooth turn around the floor, they again thanked each other and parted ways. But the coincidence was not lost on Maranda and toward the end of the evening, she took a risk and asked Boris for a ride home. They made small talk and he dropped her off uneventfully, successfully proving he wasn't a creep. Then, in true urban fashion, they ran into each other on the metro and, with a little help from Facebook, eventually made plans to dance together again. What followed was a match made in a truly monumental neighborhood at the end of the Great Recession between a girl who likes to use chopsticks and a boy who eats with a fork.